since
the height of "Murphy Brown." Both ABC and Fox did well for
themselves. For ABC, "20/20 Downtown" picked up on what football
lost at 9pm. Fox got good news with "Boston Public." Even though
"Ally McBeal" slipped a bit in the ratings, "Public" picked up that slack
and more. And on the mini nets? UPN started off red hot, but cooled
off into solid numbers. The WB had growth in "7th Heaven," even
if "Roswell" could not hold onto that. So that leaves NBC. On a
night where it tested more series than any other night on any network (let's
recount: Daddio, Tucker, Mysterious Ways, Deadline, First Years), the net
completely collapsed on the night. Its only bright spot was the shining
"Third Watch" at 10pm and, much later on, "The Weakest Link."
8:00 8:30
9:00 9:30
10:00
CBS
| King of | Yes, Dear | Everybody |
(new comedy) |(new drama)|
____|
Queens |
| Loves Ray |
| |
ABC
| 20/20 Downtown
| NFL Monday Night Football
|
NBC
| The Weakest Link |
Dateline NBC |(new) Law
|
|
|
| & Order |
Fox
| Boston Public
| Ally McBeal
|
UPN
| Moesha | The Hughleys| The Parkers| Girlfriends
|
WB
| 7th Heaven
| (new drama)
|
Next Season... don't
look for a whole lot of change in the upcoming season, just some tweaking.
Like....
CBS will likely
movie "Family Law" out of its plum slot and try something else. It only
makes sense. It's been underperforming for two seasons now and consistantly
loses a third of its "Becker" lead-in. Also, the net will likely mess with
success and move "Becker" out to try to launch another, weaker, night.
NBC
started falling into some normalicy towards the end of the season, especially
after "The Weakest Link" premiered. The only tweaking on this night will
be the new "Law & Order" airing at 10pm "Order" is name brand now,
and no matter where you put it, it's going to survive.
The WB is the only
other network looking for a change. "Felicity" would be a good 9pm candidate,
but with the net losing "Buffy," it will probably be needed on Tuesday.
The
post-"Heaven"
slot is the best the WB has to offer, except that shows traditionally don't
do too well here. All except for repeats of "The Gilmore Girls" that were
aired at 9pm this spring.... hmmmm..... but don't hold you breath. The
"Gilmore"/"Charmed" combo is doing ratings backflips on Thursday.